036 – Salty Dog

Sydney Covid ‘lock-down’ exploration of the ‘Salty Dog’ cocktail, a salted-rim version of an even earlier cocktail known as the ‘Greyhound’.

Lockdown has inspired me to explore this famous cocktail. Let’s take a look at the classic ‘Salty Dog’ cocktail, and explore some of the cocktail’s history and construction. If you’re a Gin and Grapefruit fan, then this simple to make cocktail might be your new ‘best friend’.

Make your own ‘mix-at-home’ Locktail, a Prohibition style, Gin-based, ‘Salty Dog’.

METHOD – This cocktail can be made in a mixing glass or even built in the cocktail glassware, although I prefer a shaken and colder version.

Prepare a double rocks (option for highball or couple) by coating the rim with the juice of a small piece of grapefruit, then dip the rim in salt (I have used fine Himalayan pink salt for the colour). Add 60ml Old Tom Style Gin (I suggest Hammer & Son, Old English Gin, London Dry is fine if you don’t have Old Tom Style) and 100ml fresh Grapefruit Juice (Ruby Grapefruit if possible), into a cocktail shaker with a handful of ice. Shake until very cold (15-20 seconds) and then strain into the cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of fresh Grapefruit and a basil leaf (optional).

HISTORICAL NOTES – The ‘Greyhound’ cocktail appears in Harry Craddock’s 1930 ‘The Savoy Cocktail Book’, calling for gin, grapefruit juice and ice, where he describes the ‘Greyhound’ cocktail as a variation of the ‘Grapefruit Cocktail’, suggesting common awareness at the time, of a simple spirit and grapefruit juice cocktail, existing before his 1930 publication.

The ‘Salty Dog’ may not have appeared, or been named, until much later. There are some claims that it was invented by Actor George Jessel in the 1950’s, and that may be true even if unlikely. It was certainly a common enough practice during Prohibition (1920–1933) to use both citrus juices and salt as some of the ingredients for hiding low-quality boot-leg spirits, including US-produced Gin of the day. So even if the name wasn’t around, it is highly likely that grapefruit, salt and spirit mixed drinks existed during the 1920 to 1933 (Prohibition) period.

The ‘Salty Dog’ often appears in more recent cocktail history using Vodka rather than Gin. Vodka was extremely rare in the USA until after the Second World War (post–1945), and still uncommon as a base-spirit until around the 1970’s thanks to the Smirnoff brand overcoming Cold-War reluctance, and heavily promoting Vodka as “the white whiskey”. The result is that both the ‘Greyhound’, and the ‘Salty Dog’ would have started out as Gin-based drinks, and that would certainly have been the case back in the 1920’s and right through until at least the 1950’s.

Later recipes have included Maraschino, and other flavours, however I think the cocktail is at its most elegant and authentic with just Gin, Grapefruit Juice and the salted rim that counter’s the bitterness of the Grapefruit.

THE OFFICIAL MIX – The ‘Salty Dog’ is not included in any of the International Bartender Association (IBA) official cocktail lists, and there isn’t really an ‘official’ recipe for the ‘Salty Dog’. The ‘Greyhound’ recipe of Harry Craddock is the closest for an official recipe for the ‘Greyhound’ with the salted rim addition for the ‘Salty Dog’.

TASTING NOTES – Using Old Tom Style Gin, like the Hammer & Sons Old English Gin adds some sweetness that a London Dry doesn’t, a profile that suits this cocktail. The Grapefruit adds bitterness, and the choice of Ruby Grapefruit preferred, as it is slightly less bitter and adds a rose hue to the cocktail colour. Salt reduces the bitterness in any cocktail (or food) and lets the other flavours prevail on the palate. A salt rim, lets the drinker decide how much ‘saltiness’ they want in reducing the grapefruit bitterness. One option is to salt only half of the glassware rim.

LOCKTAIL CHANGES – I have tried to bring this back to an authentic ‘Salty Dog’ of the Prohibition Era, sweet ‘Old-Tom Style’ Gin, fresh juice and a simple salted rim. No other changes, and in my opinion this is certainly not a Vodka-based drink. The botanicals and juniper in the Gin are needed and enhance the cocktail, and connect to the ‘Greyhound’ cocktail origins. There is also a connection here to the ‘salty sea-dog’ connotations of Royal Navy sailors who would have used Gin, or failing that Rum, in simple citrus combinations with their navy alcohol rations.

YOUR LOCKTAIL EXPERIENCE – If you’d rather taste than read, I am progressively building an ingredient list and other sourcing information on this site. I will re-use ingredients where I can (good for my budget too), so that the cost goes down overtime if you are ‘playing at home’.

Let me know what you think.

Cocktails you’d like reinvented.

Recipes you’ve tried and your ‘score’.

This is the sixth of the 1921-1930 (‘roaring twenties’) bracket of ‘Locktail’ remixes. Full list in the index.